OR YES, BUT FLIGHTLESS OLD BIRDS ARE.
ALERT:Off to pastures new now. Looking back further in history to what I think are the more interesting predecessors on the lowlands by the sea. I’m going to Trujillo because most people don’t! I will look at the periods from 1200 B.C. to 1470 A.D. when the Inca interfered again. This means the Moche and Chimu and the mysterious Lady of Cao. See you there.
OR THE END OF THE INCAS (HOORAY?!)
Back in Cusco after the mad train journey, I slept like a baby only to be kicked out of the pretentious hilltop hotel as they had accepted a large group swearing blind I hadn’t confirmed my extended booking. I moved down the street a bit to a new hotel absolutely furious but then settled in to a day of laundry and catching up with el bloggo!
VIEW FROM HOTEL ROOM 
MY ROOM! 
PRINCESS BED?!! 
BOYS OUT OF SCHOOL. 
CUSCO PLAZA DEL ARMAS
Because I had booked my flight to Trujillo the previous night so only have two days left, I’m out on a full on day trip around four famous sites. SACRED VALLEY; CHINCHERO, MORAY, OLLANTAYTAMBO AND PISAQ.
Tall order I’m a fool! It’s just there’s so much here to be awe inspired by and my greed has no bounds. All these places you must climb very high on very dangerous steps- remember those steps in the tombs in Tierradentro Colombia? Yes, well that sort of fear! I’m no good with heights and I stupidly still think that they’ll use hand rails in South America at their monuments and buildings hanging off sheer Andean mountains
TOP TIP Old birds be more practical than me. I have quite bad vertigo and most sites here require climbing up many very uneven steps in the thin mountain air. It’s not been the climb so much ( you just go really slowly it’s not a race) it’s when you get to the top. The paths are invariably narrow and uneven with some kind of sheer drop. There’s the worry of getting down as soon as you’re up at the top. Not trying to be negative but it’s worth investigating how difficult these sites are. If you get there and find it too daunting just go half way up. There’s no shame in not being competitive. Some idiots push and run, and some have terrible accidents, just try to do as much as you can and BE PROUD OF THAT! Someone just told me when I was asking cautiously if it was very scary up there that a friend of theirs had a fall off a ledge at Machu Picchu. She broke her leg very badly among other injuries and was given a $50,000 bill and not allowed to leave the country until she paid thus incurring more bills. Watch your footing and only stop and take photos on a safe bit without some moron having a photo taken pretending to fall next to you. Like I always say, head for quiet areas you can get back to bits that were busy and if you can’t it don’t matter, you’re alive aren’t you?
There is still a lot of mystery attached to the Incas, that’s what happens when you leave no written legacy, and when I hear some of these guides coming out with wild suppositions just to make the story more exciting I squirm. If you don’t want to read up a bit first use guides and good luck to you, but they push you to do things at their pace and won’t show you more unusual bits as it doesn’t fit into their schedule. Go it alone, you’ll thank me. Book a cab for the day and go off piste.
SACRED VALLEY.
Moray.
… is pants. It’s a long dusty drive and there’s some terraced circles that you’re no longer allowed to go in but can tediously walk around. Here’s a picture now you’ve done it
Chinchero.
Go early and walk to far end where the tours don’t take people. There are some beautiful carved rocks there and a lovely view of the terraces. The pretty church adds to it except for the fact they built it on top of an old Inca palace.
LIVING VILLAGE 
CARRYING GOODS TO MARKET 
ANOTHER VOLCANIC ROCK THRONE 
AA 
PREPARING MARKET 
CHURCH PLONKED ON TOP OF INCA PALACE 
Ollantaytambo.
The savagely beautiful ? It’s a hard climb but a very comprehensive site. It has a water temple (Princess Baths Fountain) along with waterfalls over carved granite stone. I made it up to the Sun Temple but here endith the climb, it was getting scary and I only had an hour and was aware of the many steps down. Photos are proof that I went up and here you go!
I was normally not waving but drowning. They are magnificent feats of engineering and I loved it all when I didn’t look down!
VALLEY BELOW 
ENTRANCE TO COMPLEX 
HOUSES CUT INTO MOUNTAIN 
THOSE STAIRS! 
VIEW FROM SUN TEMPLE 
SUN TEMPLE ENGRAVING
Pisaq.
Much better than Ollantaytambo for the vertigo at first. There are warning flags for relative danger of rockfalls but nothing to explain that it gets windy at the top. I was leaving when the wind really picked up and was super relieved that I wasn’t still up there. some of the gusts were ferocious.
Aa you can see there’s lot of climbing and fear. If I were to do this over I would cut half these sites. They are very similar and I would recommend being more selective. Leave early do half and stop off in a random village and eat a typical workmans lunch and soak up some genuine atmosphere!
Computer playing up so am off before I end up losing this!
Love you all and over and out from Rebecca big calves x
Old Bird Travels Solo! 